


Pen to Card

by sanctum_c



Series: Promise Week 2019 [2]
Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Birthday cards, Cloud is bad at expressing himself, F/M, Yuffie as a wingman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:01:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24240247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c
Summary: Yuffie leant over the counter and fumbled underneath. Glass, glass, plush toy perhaps? Ah. The card. She folded it along the crease; a half-cut off image of a cup-cake with a candle embedded in it and the text ‘25 Today!’.Yuffie finds Cloud worrying over something in Seventh Heaven.
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife, Yuffie Kisaragi & Cloud Strife
Series: Promise Week 2019 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1977151
Comments: 2
Kudos: 66





	Pen to Card

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt 'Because I have you'

First oddity; Cloud was behind the bar today. Second oddity, he was staring down at something with a pen clutched in one hand and a serious expression on his face. Third oddity? No one else in Seventh Heaven today. Yuffie re-checked the door. Sign flipped to open, the menu board was outside. Reasonably sure she was not yet skilled enough to pick her way through a lock without thinking about it. Reasonably.

But why would she when the people who lived here would let her in as a matter of course? And to rob said people was generally considered bad taste. “Hey.”

Cloud glanced up. “Oh, hi.” He refocused on whatever lay on the bar.

“Where is everyone?” Yuffie ventured further inside. The radio was off, the air still, the only sounds the scuff of her boots on the floor.

“Tifa took the kids to meet up with Barret for the day.”

Yuffie nodded. “And the customers?”

“Cust-“ Cloud glanced up and froze, his gaze darting around the interior. “There were some customers before.”

“Not any more.” Yuffie hummed and reached the bar, slipping onto one of the stools. A unfolded rectangle of white card lay on the bar. This was what held Cloud’s attention so intently? “What are you working on?”

“Nothing.” He flinched looking up quickly, his arm moving to conceal the card. The blank card. Wait. Yuffie blinked. It was a card for someone or some event. They had thing with cards over here, didn’t they? Greetings cards perhaps? The red envelope beside the card corroborated her theory.

“You sure?” She leant down to catch his eye; Cloud’s cheeks warmed. Oh. Curious. She shot him a grin. “Is that-“ She gestured at the card. “By any chance intended for Tifa?”

Deeper red in his cheeks. “Private.” He muttered something. “What do you want? A drink?” He swept the card off the bar and tucked it somewhere beneath. Cloud blinked, his brow furrowing. “Can you drink?”

While it might be completely plausible to convince Cloud she was old enough at this juncture, word would get back to Tifa and others and there would be tedious talks about how she should not convince Cloud about this kind of thing. Again. “Something fizzy? Non-alcoholic.”

Cloud cast around, unsure and unfamiliar with the layout of the bar despite a number of years living here. “Uh-“ He missed the dispenser Tifa typically used.

“Maybe out the back?”

He seized on the possibility like a life-preserver and hurried off. Perfect. Gaze fixed on the curtain Cloud vanished through, Yuffie leant over the counter and fumbled underneath. Glass, glass, plush toy perhaps? Ah. The card. She folded it along the crease; a half-cut off image of a cup-cake with a candle embedded in it and the text ‘25 Today!’. Far from the worst-

“I can’t find any-“ Cloud froze as he re-entered the bar.

“I forgot it was Tifa’s birthday soon.” She put the card down on the counter. “Should get her something.” Cloud said nothing. “I admit I’m not entirely familiar with these, but don’t you just write who it’s too and who it’s from?”

“That’s the idea but I-“ He sighed and crossed to the bar. “I thought it would say something. I can’t just put those words and leave the middle blank.”

Yuffie picked up the card and re-opened it. “What, do these things normally say something?" Ah. "So you don’t have to.” She reached out for his arm. “Probably best you didn’t get one of those. She’ll appreciate it so much more if you write something yourself.”

“I know that’s the way it’s supposed to work. But what do I say?” Cloud leant over and clutched his head in his hands.

“You’re overthinking this. If you want, you can say ‘Happy Birthday’ and be done with it.”

“I know. But I want to say more; it doesn’t feel enough. Like, I want to not just wish her happy birthday, I want to thank her for everything and all the time since Meteor and...” He trailed off.

Yuffie studied the blank card. “So, you want ‘Happy Birthday’ plus ‘Thank you for everything’ basically?”

Another wince from Cloud. “Not that blunt.”

“Fancy, eh?” Her Standard was excellent by and large, both written and spoken. But there remained the worry perhaps what she thought a sentence meant was not what someone else native to the language would think it meant. Still. “Okay. So- ‘To Tifa’. First bit’s easy. Then-“ She stared up at the ceiling. “’Wishing you the happiest birthday for today and everyday because I have you’.” Something off with the words. “No. ‘Wishing you a happy birthday and hoping we can continue to spend many happy years together’.”

Cloud blinked at her. “It feels a bit forward.”

“Cloud, you’ve been living with her for years. Sure, maybe you two don’t do physical love bit, but emotionally you two do care for each other.” She rolled her eyes. “You can say that and write ‘Love from Cloud’ and mean every word.”

He retrieved a pen, hand hovering over the card. “Okay.” He made a move to write and stopped. “Okay.”

“Deep breaths Cloud. You can do this.”

“I can do this.” A few more false starts and at last, Cloud put pen to card.

“Hope you got her something awesome as a present too-“ She got a petrified look from him. Ah. She should have taken Cloud under her wing sooner.


End file.
